Collection Summary
William Harrison Standley
Papers
1895-1963
(bulk 1940-1960)
1895-1963
(bulk 1940-1960)
MSS41178
Standley, William
Harrison, 1872-1963
2,500
items
14 containers
5.6 linear feet
English
Collection material in
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Naval officer and
United States ambassador to the Soviet Union. Correspondence, writings,
military papers, and miscellaneous material dealing primarily with Standley's
career in the navy and as ambassador.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Belknap, Reginald Rowan, 1871-1959--Correspondence.
Buchman, Frank, 1878-1961--Correspondence.
Crommelin, John G.--Correspondence.
Henderson, Loy W. (Loy Wesley), 1892-1986--Correspondence.
Howard, Roy Wilson, 1883-1964--Correspondence.
Jenner, William E. (William Ezra), 1908-1985--Correspondence.
Knowland, William F. (William Fife), 1908-1974--Correspondence.
Standley, William Harrison, 1872-1963.
Standley, William Harrison, 1872-1963. Admiral Ambassador to Russia. 1955.
Standley, William Harrison, 1872-1963. Admiral Standley, Early Life and Naval Career.
Stanley, William, active 1942--Correspondence.
Walsh, David I. (David Ignatius), 1872-1947--Correspondence.
Willson, Russell, 1883-1948--Correspondence.
Subjects
Anti-communist movements.
Diplomatic and consular service, American--Soviet Union.
Places
Germany--Foreign relations--United States.
Soviet Union--Foreign relations--United States.
United States--Foreign relations--Germany.
United States--Foreign relations--Soviet Union.
Occupations
Diplomats.
Naval officers.
Provenance
The papers of William Harrison Standley, naval officer and U.S.
ambassador to the Soviet Union, were deposited in the Library of Congress in
1969 and 1973 by the Naval Historical Foundation and converted to a gift in
1998.
Processing History
The Standley Papers were processed in 1973. The finding aid was
revised in 2009.
Additional Guides
In 1973 the Library published
William Harrison Standley, a Register of His Papers in the Library
of Congress
.
Transfers
Phonograph albums have been transferred to the Library's Motion
Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division where they are identified as
part of these papers.
Other Repositories
The USC Library at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles,
Calif., also holds a collection of Standley papers.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of William
Harrison Standley is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title
17, U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The William Harrison Standley Papers are open to research. Researchers
are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, William Harrison Standley Papers,
Naval Historical Foundation Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1872, Dec. 18
Born, Ukiah, Calif.
1895
Graduated, U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
Duty on Olympia (cruiser),
Asiatic Station
1898
Married Evelyn Curtis
1911
1914
Aide to the commandant, U.S. Navy Yard, Mare Island,
Calif.
1915
1916
Commanded Yorktown
(gunboat)
1916
1919
Duty at U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.
1924
Senior member, Joint Planning Committee, Office of the Chief
of Naval Operations
1928
1930
Assistant chief, Naval Operations
1931
1933
Commander of cruisers, U.S. Fleet and Scouting Force
1933
Promoted to admiral
1933
1937
Chief, Naval Operations
1935
Delegate, London Disarmament Conference, London, England
1937
Retired from U.S. Navy
1937
1939
Director and consultant, Electric Boat Co., New London,
Conn.
1942
1943
Ambassador to the Soviet Union
1944
Recalled to active duty, U.S. Navy
1945
Retired from U.S. Navy
1955
Published with Arthur A. Ageton
Admiral Ambassador to Russia.
Chicago: H. Regnery
Co.
1963, Oct. 25
Died, San Diego, Calif.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of William Harrison Standley (1872-1963) span the period
1895-1963, with the bulk of the material concentrated in 1940-1960. The papers
include correspondence, speeches, articles, drafts of Standley's books, naval
orders, news releases, reports, printed matter, and miscellaneous material. The
collection is organized in
[General Correspondence](genc1);
[Speech, Article, and Book File](spef5); and
[Miscellany ](misc11)series.
The majority of the
[correspondence](genc1) deals with the anti-Communist causes to
which Standley allied himself in the 1950s. Also included are letters of
congratulation concerning his appointment as ambassador to the Soviet Union and
letters concerning his role as director of foreign participation in the 1939
New York World's Fair.
Speeches in the
[Speech, Article, and Book file](spef5) reflect
Standley's interests and concerns during the period 1933-1955. Speaking in the
1930s, he stressed the need for an effective sea power founded upon an
expanding shipbuilding program, and in 1940 he called for war with Germany.
After his return from the Soviet Union in 1943, Standley concentrated his
speechmaking efforts on American relations with the Soviet Union.
Included in the book file are drafts of Standley's published book,
Admiral Ambassador to Russia
, and an unpublished
autobiography, “Admiral Standley, Early Life and Naval Career.” The latter
covers the period from 1895 to 1937 and is useful in its portrayal of a segment
of Standley's life that is absent in the correspondence.
The
[Miscellany](misc11) series consists chiefly of
newspaper clippings, news releases, printed matter, and reports that relate to
the anti-Communist organizations that Standley supported. Biographical
information is also contained in naval orders dated from 1895 to 1948.
Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in three series:
-
[General
Correspondence, 1931-1963](genc1)
-
[Speech,
Article, and Book File, 1933-1958](spef5)
-
[Miscellany,
1895-1962](misc11)
Container List
Box
Contents
1-5
General Correspondence,
1931-1963
1931-1963
Letters sent and received.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, company, or
organization and therein chronologically.
1
Alfaro, Colón E.,
1937
Alvord, Ellsworth C.,
1949
American-Asian Educational
Exchange, 1958
American Bureau of Medical Aid to
China, 1954-1955
American Coalition,
1946
American Friends of Russian
Freedom, 1854-1961
American Jewish League Against
Communism, 1955, 1962
American Magazine
, 1945
Atlantic Council,
1961
Atlantic Union Committee, 1950,
1956
Badger, Oscar C., 1949,
1958
Bailey, Banks & Biddle Co.,
1937-1938
Baker, Wilder, 1949
Baylor, Arthur C.,
1950
Becker, Mrs. William A., 1937,
undated
Belknap, Reginald R.,
1937-1957
Bemis, Harold M.,
1949
Bettelheim, Edwin S., Jr.,
1945-1949
Biscia, Raineri, 1946
Bischoff, Herman H.,
1956
Boldyreff, C. W.,
1959
Buchman, Frank N. D.
[
See Container 4, Moral Re-Armament](buc1)
Buckley, Mrs. C. J.,
1954
Bujkovsky, Gustav J.,
1955
Bullitt, William C.
1954
Burnham, Donald C.,
1942
California Newspaper Publishers
Association, 1948
Catholic War Veterans,
1948
Cheeseman, Evans R.,
1945
Clarkson, Edward D.,
1948
Collins, James F.,
1956
Committee of Endorsers,
1957
Committee of One Million,
1954-1963
Committee on National Affairs,
1949
Committee to Defend America by
Aiding the Allies, 1940-1941
Congress of Freedom,
1959
Council Against Communist
Aggression
2
1958-1963
Enclosures,
1955-1961
Crommelin, John G.
[
See Container 5, Ten Million Americans](cro2)
Darlington, Gilbert,
1949-1950
Davis, Russell H., Jr., 1954,
undated
Declaration of Atlantic Unity,
1954-1961
Denfeld, Louis E.,
1949
DeWeese, Wade, 1952
Dillon, John H., 1959
Doyle, Clyde, 1955
Eller, E.M., 1960
Farquhar, Allan S.,
1937
Favel, José L., 1931
Federal Union,
1945-1946
Fleet, Reuben H.,
1955
Fleming, Robert V.,
1955
Fletcher, Charles K.,
1948
Fletcher, Mrs. Stephen G.,
1955
Flood, Daniel J.,
1955
Fluegel, Edna R.,
1954
For America, 1955
Forrestal, James,
1948
Freedom School,
1956-1961
Fund for the Freedom Academy,
1962
Furer, Julius A.,
1954
Furlong, William R.,
1950
3
Geer, William D.,
1945
Gerard, James W., 1949,
undated
Gigliotti, Frank D.,
1948
Glasgow, Arthur G.,
1941
Green, Robert T.,
1945
Grew, Joseph C., 1954
Guard, Madge, circa
1954
Harrington, F. B.,
1948
Hazard, Roscoe E.,
1954
Henderson, Alfred F.,
1949
Henderson, Loy W., 1948,
1959
Hiatt, T. L., 1949
Hooper, Stanford, C.,
1949
Hoover, J. Edgar,
1958
Howard, Meredith,
1949
Howard, Roy W., 1954
Hubbell, Ralph G.,
1943
International Research
on Communist Techniques, 1954-1959
Japan Economic Federation,
1937-1939
Jenner, William E.,
1955
Johnson, Albin E.,
1954
Johnson, Charles B.,
1958
Joy, Turner, 1949
Kasai, Jiuji G.,
1937-1949
Klein, Julius, 1955
Knight, Goodwin J.,
1955
Knowland, William F.,
1954
Kobayashi, Masashi,
1948
Kohlberg, Alfred,
1955-1960
Lamme, Mary Louise,
undated
Lapham, Roger D.,
1948-1949
Latta and Co.,
1954-1955
Lawrence, David, 1949,
1953
Leahy, William D.,
1948
Levis, William E.,
1942
Loeb, William, 1955,
undated
Lowe, Frank, 1958
Luckel, Frank, 1948
MacArthur, Douglas,
1957
McCarthy, Jean, 1957
McCarthy, Joseph R.,
1954-1955
Macaulay, T. C., 1937,
1945
McCullough, Edwin L.,
1933-1938
McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
1950
4
Mann, George H., 1955
Marshall, George A.,
1947
Matthews, Tanya and Ronald,
1948
Miami Beach, mayor of,
1949
Mizota, Shuichi, 1937-1938,
1949
Monson, Fletcher F.,
1940-1941
Moral Re-Armament,
1954-1961, undated
Moscow Alumni Association,
1947
Munroe, Frances E., 1955,
undated
Myrick, Julian S.,
1947
National Broadcasting Co.,
1949
National Geographic Society,
1949
Native Sons of the Golden West,
1947
Navy Industrial Association,
1948
Nevin, Robert R.,
1948
Newcomen Society,
1941
Nimitz, Chester W.,
1948-1949
Nixon, Richard M.,
1948
Nolan, Julia S., 1942
Norforlk Advertising Board,
1935
Office of Production Management,
1941
Organization to Repeal Federal
Income Taxes, 1956
Owen, Judson W., 1948
Pan American World Airways
System, 1949
Payán, Juan B. Izaguirre,
1954
Phillips, William,
1942
Political Research Project,
1954-1955
Pownall, Charles,
1955
Pratt, John L., 1942
Pritchard, Clarence F.,
1954
Radford, Arthur, 1955
Reader's Digest
, 1957
Reifsnider, Lawrence F.,
1954
Republican National Committee,
1948
Rhee, Syngman, 1957
Richards, J. K., 1942,
1954
Robinson, Leland R.,
1940
Rothschild, John,
1941
Rowe, Leo S., 1942
Rudin, Vladimir N.
[
See Container 3, International Research on
Communist Techniques](rud4)
Rutzebeck, Hjalmar,
1942
Sayer, Edmund S.,
1955
Scott, David, 1942
Sefton, Fred C., 1942
Shearer, William K.,
1956
5
Shirley, Barnett N.,
1942
Southern California Publishing
Co., 1947
Stanley, William,
1942
Stettinius, Edward R.,
1942
Struck, Gladys, 1955
Swope, Herbert B.,
1942
Telberg, Ina, 1944
Templin, Lucinda de Letwich,
1945
Ten Million Americans,
1954-1955
Thompson, H. Keith,
1957
Thompson, Llewellyn E.,
1958
Todt, George H., 1955
Train, Harold C.,
1955
Tuckerman, Walter R.,
1955
Underkoffler, Mrs. R.,
1954
United States Navy
Department
Bureau of Navigation,
1937-1938
Mutual Aid Association,
1956
Wakasugi, Kaname,
1938
Walsh, David I., 1938
Washburn, H.C., 1937
White, William R.,
1958
Wicker, Charles A.,
1946
Wiley, John C.,
1945-1947
William Penn Charter School,
Philadelphia, Pa., 1956
Williams, Robert H.,
1955
Willson, Russell,
1936-1937
Willy, F. O., 1949
Wilson, Hugh R., 1937
World Peaceways, 1935
Wright, Donald P.,
1942
Unidentified,
1937-1957
Undated and fragment
5-10
Speech, Article, and
Book File,
1933-1958
1933-1958
Typed, near-print, and handwritten copies of speeches, typed and
printed copies of articles, typescripts of books by Standley and related
correspondence.
Arranged by type of material.
5
Speeches
Correspondence, 1934-1957,
undated
Handwritten, typewritten, and
near-print copies of speeches
1933, Aug.-1935,
Nov.
6
1936-1948, Apr.
7
1949-1954,
undated
Articles
Correspondence,
1945-1955
Typed and printed copies of
articles, 1940-1953, undated
Books
Admiral Ambassador to Russia
Correspondence
Ageton, Arthur A.,
1950-1956
Henry Regnery Co.,
1954-1958
Readers,
1954-1957
Letters from Arthur A.
Ageton to Henry Regnery Co., 1954-1955
Typescripts
drafts
Chapters 1-4
8
Chapters 5-8
Unarranged notes and
drafts
“Admiral Standley, Early Life
and Naval Career”
Typescript drafts
Pages 1-75
9
Pages 76-461
10
Revised
typescript
Miscellaneous notes and fragments
concerning speeches, articles, and books
11-14
Miscellany,
1895-1962
1895-1962
Articles and speeches by others, correspondence, biographical
material, lists, invitations, memoranda, naval orders, news releases, newspaper
clippings, plans and proposals, programs, and reports.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material with printed matter
and photographs at the end of the series.
11
Article by Rena Kenyon,
undated
Biographical sketch for
Distinguished Service Medal consideration, 1940
Correspondence of others,
1926-1959
Dinner list, 1938
“Historiography” of the Standley
family
Invitations, 1938,
undated
Memoranda, 1937, 1940,
undated
Miscellaneous material,
1926-1962, undated
Naval orders,
1895-1948
News releases
Committee of One Million,
1955-1959, undated
International Research on
Communist Techniques, 1956-1959
Moral Re-Armament, 1951-1961,
undated
Ten Million Americans,
1954
Miscellaneous, 1938-1958,
undated
Newspaper clippings
12
Newspaper clippings
Plans and proposals, Office of
Production Management, 1938-1941
Programs, 1937-1954
Reports
American Social Hygiene
Association, report on national defense activities, 1948-1949
International Research on
Communist Techniques, activities and financial reports, 1956-1958
Roberts Commission, rough draft
of findings of fact, 1942
Miscellaneous
Speeches by others
1931-1939
13
1940-1955, undated
Printed matter
14
Printed matter
Photographs